Drew Goddard Departs Marvel and Netflix’s Daredevil; New Showrunner Named

Less than 24 hours after it was revealed that Ant-Man director Edgar Wright had decided to part ways with Marvel Studios over creative differences, they have now lost another high profile name.

Drew Goddard was set to serve as the showrunner on Marvel’s upcoming Daredevil series on Netflix, and was also attached to direct at least the first episode. However, as he’s also set to write and direct The Amazing Spider-Man spin-off Sinister Six for Sony, many wondered how he could possibly do both.

Well, Sinister Six is obviously a priority as he has departed Daredevil in order to work on that movie. He will still serve as a consultant on the series though, and a replacement has already been found.

That will be Spartacus creator Steven S. DeKnight, someone who is no stranger to working with Goddard and Joss Whedon. His credits include both Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, along with superhero TV series Smallville. Below is the official press release from Marvel, in which it is also revealed that Goddard will executive produce and that he has indeed written the first two instalments of the Netflix series.

Marvel is proud to announce that acclaimed writer, director and producer Steven S. DeKnight (“Spartacus,” “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer,” “Angel”) has joined “Marvel’s Daredevil” as Executive Producer & Showrunner on the all-new 13-episode series premiering on Netflix in 2015. Drew Goddard, who also wrote the first two episodes, will continue to serve as Executive Producer on “Marvel”s Daredevil” as he writes and preps Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” spin-off film, “The Sinister Six.”

We’re obviously still waiting on news of a replacement for Edgar Wright on Ant-Man, and it will be interesting to see whether he too is still somehow involved with the movie or if his split with Marvel was less amicable than Goddard’s. Reports have surfaced stating that he was falling behind of production, while others claim that the studio commissioned rewrites on his screenplay which simply changed his vision too much.